


Bear With Me

by ashley_in_the_know



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-23
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-07-01 10:33:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15772359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashley_in_the_know/pseuds/ashley_in_the_know
Summary: When the Sweet brothers & company get into trouble in the Parchwood, it's up to Trinket to save his friends. He can't do it without Vex though, and how is he supposed to explain to her how he knows these other bears?





	1. Parchwood Pandemonium

Trinket's day starts out pretty fantastic. Of course, it doesn't stay that way, such is the life of an adventuring bear, but the beginning is one of the best mornings of his life.

Vex wakes him up early, makes them a special breakfast, and then tells him that they'll be going on patrol together this morning. Just the two of them. Trinket is thrilled. It's been so long since he's gotten to spend time alone with Vex.

He understands that she's busy. Being the Grand Mistress is a  _very_ important job, and there's no better person for it in Trinket's humble opinion. But he misses her. He misses the days of adventuring with Vox Machina, when their only responsibility was whatever monster they had to fight next.

It doesn't help that she's been sick lately. Too tired and miserable to do much more than hole up in Percy's workshop, or the library, or whichever room has the warmest fire, and sleep all day. She's been looking better these past few days, though, almost glowing. And not the strange, too bright glow of Pelor's blessing. It's something different, something better.

The Parchwood is quiet today, the bite of winter already in the air, even though they're barely into autumn. Vex has her thickest cloak on, and Trinket can see his breath with every huff. They stick to the mountain pass for an hour or so before cutting into the forest itself. Vex stops occasionally; to meditate, to check tracks, once to heal an injured fox. Trinket happily follows along, content to help Vex with her job. He follows some tracks at her request, concerned that they might belong to a manticore. (They'd had trouble with nesting manticores about a year ago. Dealing with them was an experience that Trinket does  _not_ want to repeat.) It turns out to be nothing, thankfully. Old tracks that lead to a long abandoned den.

Vex and Trinket find a clearing around mid-morning and settle down for a snack. Trinket vaguely recognizes the area. He's pretty sure he came through here the last time he pulled a job with the Sweet brothers. But Cookie and Waffle are nowhere to be seen, so he rests his head in Vex's lap and enjoys his dried salmon.

After the salmon, Vex pulls out toasted honey cakes from the bakery, and Trinket starts to get suspicious. He realizes that she's buttering him up for something when she starts casting the spell that lets them talk.

"I have a really big secret to tell you, buddy," she says, and Trinket is confused because she sounds really excited, but her voice is also shaky, like she's trying not to cry. "But you have to promise that you won't tell  _anyone_ , alright?"

Trinket nods, sitting up straight. "Is everything okay, Vex?" he asks. She doesn't look  _sad._ She's smiling, but there are tears in her eyes, and her hands are trembling. "What's wrong?"

"Oh no, nothing's wrong, buddy, I'm fine," she says, scratching behind his ears. "It's a good secret, I promise."

He leans into her scratching, but he's still a little worried. "Okay..."

She sighs. "Okay, so you know how I was  _really_ sick for a while there?"

"Yes. I didn't like it." He nuzzles her cheek. "I can't do anything to help when you're sick. I'm glad you're better now."

"You do more than enough," she assures him, kissing his snout. "As for the feeling better part, well..." She trails off for a moment. "I'm going to be feeling...not quite sick, really. Just  _different_ for a while."

"I don't understand, Vex."

"I'm pregnant, Trinket." As soon as she says it, her tears start falling, but she's smiling wider than ever. "Percy and I are having a baby."

Trinket has no words to express how happy he is, so he does the next best thing and licks a sloppy bear kiss across her face. "Oh, buddy, that's still so gross," she says, but there's laughter in her voice. "I take it you're excited about being a big brother, then?"

He nods enthusiastically. "Oh, so excited, Vex!" He nuzzles her again until she's giggling. "How long until I get to meet them?"

"Oh gosh, buddy, it's going to be a while," she says, kissing his snout again. "About six or seven months, if we've calculated right."

He huffs, disappointed. "That's a long time."

Vex chuckles. "Tell me about it." She scratches behind his ears again. "I'm so glad you're excited, darling. I just know you're going to be the  _best_ brother."

"And you're going to be the best mom," he says confidently. "You already are."

"Oh,  _buddy._ " She wraps her arms around his neck and starts sobbing into his shoulder. He rests a paw gently on her back, like he's seen Percy do, and waits for her to stop crying. By the time she pulls away and dries her face, she has to recast the spell. "I'm sorry, Trinket. I'd say I don't know why I'm so emotional, but, well..." She gestures to her belly and gives a watery laugh.

They're starting to leave the clearing when Trinket hears a strange noise and stops short. Vex stops, too, and she looks at him curiously. "You heard it, too?" she confirms.

He nods, and they both turn towards the noise. It's coming from deeper in the forest, and it sounds to Trinket like an animal in distress. "You stay here," he tells Vex. "I'll go check it out."

She gives him an incredulous look. "Buddy."

"What?" he asks. "It could be dangerous."

She buries her face in her hands. "Oh, gods, not you, too." She sighs. "Alright, go on. But call for me if you need help."

He nods and ventures into the forest towards the noise. As he gets closer, the sharp smell of blood fills his nostrils. The pained yells also start to sound terribly familiar. He pushes aside some brambles and comes face-to-face with a bloodied, yowling Liam Las Vegas.

"He-hey, Trinket," Liam says, his labored breathing ruining his attempt to sound casual. "How's...how's it shakin' pal?"

Trinket very gently pulls the honey badger out of the brambles by his scruff. "What the fuck, Vegas?" he asks. "What happened to you?"

"Got into some baaaaaad shit, man," Liam says weakly. "All of us. There were people. Bad people. Lotsa sharp, pointy things."

"Sounds like poachers," Trinket growls. "What happened to the others?"

"They got Waffle. Peddy," Liam manages. "Cookie's...well, he  _was_ right behind me. He got it worse than I did, though. Not sure when I lost him, but. But I lost him."

Trinket helps Liam onto his back, starts making his way back to the clearing. "How'd they get to you?" he asks.

"Baited us," Liam says. "Honey, fish, bamboo. We were fuckin' hungry. Made us stupid."

He hears Vex's sharp intake of breath the moment they reenter the clearing. "Oh my god, you poor thing," she says, scooping Liam off of Trinket's back.

"Hey, I didn't consent to this," Liam snarls, struggling feebly. "Get your hands off me, lady."

"Calm down, Vegas," Trinket says. "She's just trying to help."

"Did he tell you what happened, Trinket?" Vex asks, pouring her healing magic into Liam.

"They were ambushed by poachers," he tells her, and he watches her stiffen. "There were three others with him. Two of them got taken, but one other escaped. He's back in the forest somewhere. Wounded pretty bad, apparently."

Vex nods, sighs. "You stay here with him, alright?" she says, standing up and pulling out her broom. "I won't be long. I just have to talk to Percy, get some supplies for an extended patrol, possibly get us some back-up." She digs in her satchel, pulls out a glass vial that Trinket recognizes as a healing potion. "Go find his friend, have him drink this. It should hold him over until I can find you."

Trinket watches her take off and disappear over the forest canopy before turning to Liam, nudging him gently. "C'mon," he says. "Grab that and get on my back. We need to move fast."

"So, that's your mom, huh?" he asks once he's settled.

"Yeah," Trinket grunts, sniffing out the trail that Liam had made through the Parchwood. "Why?"

"No reason," he says. "She, uh, she seems pretty cool, ya know? For a human, or whatever."

Trinket smiles. "She is pretty great," he says. He makes sure he's leaving an obvious trail for Vex to follow when she comes back. "Now, focus. We've gotta find Cookie."


	2. A Grizzly Situation

Waffle's head is fuzzy when he comes to. And not the good kind of fuzzy that comes after a day long honey binge. There's a strange, coppery taste in his mouth, and he briefly wonders if he's been chewing on Peddy's magic tree stick again. But then he opens his eyes and sees the metal bars of a cage surrounding him, and it all comes rushing back. A feast fit for a bear, set out in the morning mist, that in hindsight was obviously a trap. The sudden appearance of a lot of people with sharp, pointy things. Trying to fight back, but feeling woozy and wrong. And then...nothing.

"Cookie?" he calls out, looking around for his brother. He's in a poacher's camp, that much is clear, but while there are plenty of animals in cages, his brother doesn't seem to be one of them. Maybe he's still knocked out though, so he tries a little louder. "Cookie?"

"Oh, good, you're awake. I was starting to get worried." A familiar voice, though not his brother. Waffle turns his head and realizes he's almost nose-to-nose with Peddy Tuxpin. The panda waves sadly, squashed into a too small cage. The fur of his chest is stained with vomit, as is, Waffle notices, a corner of his own cage. "Sorry I almost threw up on you," Peddy says. "I can't really move around much."

"Eh, it's alright," Waffle says, burying his snout in his paws as a wave of nausea hits him. "Do you remember what happened?" he asks.

"Not really," Peddy says. "I woke up about an hour ago, and I immediately threw up. And then I tried to gnaw on the bars of my cage, because they kinda looked like bamboo. One of the people came over and yelled at me and poked me with his pointy stick. Then another person came over and gave me some meat, which I ate. And then I threw up again. And then I waited for you to wake up."

Waffle grunts, moves as far away from Peddy as his cage allows. "Have you seen Cookie or...or Las Vegas?" he asks.

"Not yet," Peddy says, gnawing at a claw. "I don't think they're here. I heard the people arguing about the ones that got away."

"Good. That's good," Waffle says, nodding. "Hey, we're in Trinket's turf, right?" Peddy nods as best he can. "You think the others will think to find him? Get us some help?"

"Ooh, I hadn't thought of that," Peddy says. "But, hey, Cookie's smart like you, so he'd probably think to do that. Yeah."

As grateful as he is that his brother doesn't seem to be trapped in a cage, Waffle wishes he could see him. Just to know that he's alright. "I just hope he's okay."

* * *

 

Cookie is fucked up. There's no nice way to say it. He's finally collapsed after fleeing from those bad people for gods know how long. He's trying to stay quiet, because he doesn't know if they're still looking for him, but it's really fuckin' hard. His entire body  _hurts,_ his fur matted with blood and vomit and dirt, and he just wants to curl up into a ball and sleep. But he resists, because he has the awful feeling that, if he falls asleep, he might not wake up.

He doesn't know how long he lays there, helpless. It might be a few minutes, it might be a few hours. He doesn't know. But, eventually, the silence is broken by snapping twigs and a loud snuffling. Cookie tenses, preparing for the worst, but a large brown snout pokes into his bush, and suddenly he's staring Trinket, of all bears, in the face.

Trinket sighs, and it might be the blood loss talking, but Cookie swears he sees him smile. "Get over here with that potion, Vegas," he calls, withdrawing his face from the bush for a moment. "I found him." Then he's back, gently helping Cookie out of his hiding place. "You look like shit, Cookie."

"Good fuckin' morning to you, too, Trink," he manages. He closes his eyes, relaxing as the sun warms his fur.

There's a soft shuffling, and even though he can't see Liam, he can feel the honey badger standing over him. "Open up, boss." Cookie complies, and manages not to choke on whatever Liam's pouring down his throat. It tastes...well, not good. A little like grass and dirt and magic. He grimaces, but he no longer feels like he's about to keel over, so he doesn't bitch like he normally would.

"Better?" Trinket asks.

"Yeah." He sits up, rubs at his snout awkwardly, not looking either of them in the eye. "Uh, thanks."

Liam mutters something that Cookie can't hear, and Trinket just nods graciously. "There's a pond over there, if you wanna get cleaned up while we wait."

"Wait?" His head throbs as he shakes it. "I ain't fuckin' waiting for nothin'," he says. "I gotta go find my brother."

"You're not gonna be much use to him with the state you're in," Trinket argues. "You can barely sit up straight, let alone walk through the forest for who knows how long. And even if you could, what are we supposed to do? Fight an entire camp of poachers, just the three of us?"

"Well, I gotta do somethin', Trinket," Cookie says. "That's my brother out there. I can't just sit on my ass while he's being locked in a cage, or sold to some freak."

"We're not abandoning Waffle and Peddy," Trinket tells him. "That's not what I meant. What I  _meant_ , is that we're going to need some help if we want to rescue them."

Cookie just stares at him warily. "And we're...waiting for this help?"

"Yes," Trinket says. "My mom was with me when I found Vegas. She went home to get some supplies; food, medicine, maybe some extra people to help us. She should be back soon, but we need to stay in one place so it's easier for her to find us."

"And you're sure she'll be able to find these assholes?"

Trinket nods. "She's the best tracker I've ever met," he says confidently. "Better than any bear. Also, she really, really hates poachers, so she'll be good to have in your corner."

He stares at Trinket for a minute, and then nods. "Alright. If you trust her that much, we'll wait."

Cookie's making his way to the pond to take a bath when he hears Liam ask, "Hey, do you think she'll bring any booze with her?"

* * *

 

Vex does not bring booze with her. Trinket asks, mostly so Liam will stop pestering him. "Liam wanted to know," he explains when she gives him a Look.

"Liam?"

"The honey badger," he clarifies quickly.

"Ah," she says, smiling. She turns to Liam. "Well, darling, I'm afraid I don't have any alcohol, but I did bring you a little treat." She reaches into the satchel at her side, which Trinket recognizes as her cold food bag, and pulls out a hunk of meat, offering it to Liam. He sniffs at it suspiciously, then snatches it from her and starts gnawing hungrily.

Trinket hangs back with Liam as Vex goes to Cookie, who is currently sunbathing at the edge of the pond. He sees the green/gold aura of her magic enveloping her hands as she pours healing into the injured bear. She pulls another hunk of meat out of her satchel for Cookie, strokes his fur as she speaks with him quietly, her expression growing more and more grim.

Eventually, Vex and Cookie stand, and she whistles for Trinket to follow as she starts off into the forest, low to the ground as she follows Cookie's tracks. Trinket waits for Liam to hop onto his back before trotting after her. He and Cookie follow closely, the three bears lapsing into silence as they make their way quickly through the brush and brambles. Vex occasionally mutters to herself, but for the most part, the only noise for the next couple of hours comes from the inhabitants of the Parchwood.

It's not hard to know when they find the clearing where the poachers set up their ambush. There are remnants of the food still set up, and the entire clearing is disturbed with heavy footprints and the occasional slender groove of wagon wheels. Vex meditates for a moment before casting a spell under her breath and turning to Cookie.

"You said you thought there were six of them?" she asks.

Cookie counts on his paws before nodding slowly. "Yeah, yeah. At least six of 'em, yeah."

Vex frowns. "At  _least_ six?"

He nods. "That's how many I saw," he says. "There could'a been more, I don't know. I don't...I don't know. I'm sorry."

Her face softens. "Oh, darling, it's alright," she says, scratching him behind the ears. "I just have a feeling that we might need more backup than I originally anticipated, that's all."

"So, what do we do now?" Cookie asks.

"We keep following their trail," Vex says. She points out the grooves leading westward out of the clearing. "Those wagon tracks should lead us straight to their camp. With any luck, we'll have caught up to them by nightfall."

"And then we fuck their shit up?" Liam asks hopefully.

Vex shakes her head. "And then we wait for morning." She sighs, speaks over their protests. "I'm not at full strength right now, and, honestly, neither are the two of you. Plus, we've been traveling all day. A full night's rest will benefit all of us,  _and_ it will allow my rangers to catch up with us. Like I said, I have a feeling we're going to need all the help we can get."

"So we wait for morning," Liam says. "And  _then_ we attack?"

Vex grins, ruffles the honey badger's ears. "Yes, darling. At dawn, we attack."


	3. Den Mother

It's relatively easy for Vex to find the poachers' camp once she's picked up their trail. They've made no attempts to cover their tracks, which tells her they're either very confident in their abilities, or they're phenomenally stupid. Or both. She suspects it's both. It's also fairly easy to find a place to make camp for the night. Liam discovers a cave large enough for the four of them, and it takes Vex almost no time at all to disguise the entrance.

What is not so easy is convincing her three furry companions to let her do reconnaissance by herself. She's already had to re-cast her Speak with Animals spell, and they're still no closer to a compromise. Trinket is reaching Percy levels of overprotective, and Cookie is insisting on going along, if only to see his brother. Who knew bears could be so stubborn?

"Look, Trinket," she starts, kneeling so she can look him in the eyes, "I won't be in any danger, I promise. I know how to stay hidden. I used to do this all the time with Vax, remember?"

Trinket looks deeply unimpressed. "I seem to remember that going poorly, more often than not."

"Well, alright, you do have a point there," she relents. "But, most of the time, things went poorly because your uncle was a reckless idiot. Which had nothing to do with me."

He huffs. "I still don't think it's a good idea."

"Me either," Cookie says. "Besides, how will you even know what to look for if one of us doesn't go with you? You've never met Waffle or Peddy."

She almost laughs. "You could always just tell me what they look like, darling."

"Or, I could go with her."

Vex is drawing an arrow as she whirls to face the entrance to the cave, but her aim falters when she takes in the figure silhouetted there. "Holy shit," she says, letting Fenthras go slack. "Tova?"

The dwarf gives her a half smile, steps further into the cave. "Long time, no see, Vex."

"You're alive," she says, disbelieving. "You made it out of the Nine Hells."

Tova nods. "Yup."

"What are you doing here?" Trinket asks, and Vex frowns because he sounds almost suspicious.

"The High Bear Nation got wind of some shit going down in the Parchwood, sent me to investigate," she says, leaning against the cave wall. "Should have known you lot would be involved somehow."

"Not by choice," Cookie snarls. "Those fucks have my brother. And Peddy."

"We're attempting to formulate a rescue plan," Vex interjects. "But we need to do recon on the camp first."

"And these three don't want you to go alone," Tova finishes. "Yeah, I picked up on that when I was eavesdropping."

"Yeah, we're kind of getting nowhere with that," Vex says.

"I noticed," Tova says. "Hence my offer." She turns to the bears. "What do you guys say? You trust me, right?"

Vex's spell wears off again, so all she hears is a series of rumbles, the loudest coming from Trinket.

Tova laughs. "About as inconspicuous as a grizzly bear in full armor," she says. "But, don't worry. I have my ways of remaining unseen." She pulls out the Ring of Invisibility that Vax had given her in the prison and slips it on, vanishing from sight. "We good?" There's a rumble of assent from Trinket, Cookie, and Liam, and Tova materializes again. "That's what I thought. C'mon, Vex."

Vex leads the way to the poachers' camp, stopping to cast Pass Without a Trace when they're about 100 yards away. "Now would probably be a good time to put on that ring," she whispers to Tova.

The dwarf nods, vanishes from sight again. "I never did get to properly thank your brother for this," she says. "You mind passing along the message for me?"

Vex tells herself that the churning in her gut is from the stench of the camp, nothing more. "Not at all."

She takes to the trees as she gets closer to the camp. Better vantage point aside, it's barely dusk and Vex doesn't have the advantage of invisibility. She has a far better chance of remaining unseen in the foliage.

Even up in the canopy, the stench of a poachers' camp hits her like a brick wall. She fights back a wave of nausea and concentrates on the contents of the camp. She counts nine poachers in all, mostly human, with a couple of half-elves and a halfling mixed in. There are two caravan wagons, along with ten cages, only seven of which are currently filled. She sees the two bears they're here for. Peddy, the poor thing, is stuffed into a too-small cage, while Waffle paces as best he can in his. She thinks she might finally understand Grog's rage, watching the scene. She's seething with it, wants desperately to pull out Fenthras and drop them all where they stand. But she promised Trinket she wouldn't do anything reckless, so she watches and calculates, hot tears staining her cheeks.

When their hour of enhanced stealth is nearly up, Vex returns to the rendezvous point she and Tova agreed on and promptly vomits in the nearest bush.

* * *

 

Trinket has never seen Vex so angry. That one visit to Syngorn is about as close as it gets, and this is a different beast altogether. She's shaking when she returns to the cave, crying too, and she immediately drops to her knees and starts drawing a map of the camp in the dirt.

They strategize for a very long time, Tova translating for Vex so that she can save the last of her magic. The plan that they eventually come up with is simple enough. Vex will approach the camp first, seemingly alone, and try to intimidate the poachers into surrender. If that fails (which it probably will, because there are nine of them and only one of her), she'll give a signal and everyone else will attack from different sides. While the fighting is going on, Tova will sneak in wearing her ring and start opening cages. It's foolproof. Which, in Trinket's experience, means everything will go to shit immediately.

"Ooh, wait, I have an idea," Liam says as they're wrapping up. He turns to Vex. "You have that special necklace that you carry Trinket in sometimes, right?"

There's a pause as Tova translates, and then Vex nods. "What were you thinking?" she asks.

"You could put  _me_ in the necklace, and then bam! pop me out when you're talking to those douchebags, and I can go apeshit," he says. "We're going for intimidating, right? There's nothing more intimidating than a honey badger playing with your ballsack."

Vex and Tova both look shockingly impressed. "That's actually not a bad idea," Vex says. She turns to Trinket. "As long as you don't mind, buddy."

Trinket shakes his head, and Vex smiles. "Alright then, it's settled. If there's nothing else, we should all get some rest." Everyone nods and mumbles, and Vex catches Trinket's eye. "Do you want to take first watch with me, darling?"

They post up near the mouth of the cave, the small campfire at their backs. Trinket lays out, and Vex settles against him, curling into his warmth, despite already being wrapped in her cloak and the furs from her bedroll. The first hour or so passes quietly, uneventful except for the tense moment when a trio of owlbears trundle past the cave. They both hold their breath as one sniffs closer and closer and then loses interest and wanders off after its companions.

Trinket is starting to think they're going to spend the entire watch in silence when he hears Vex muttering under her breath, and then she's shifting against him. "Trinket?" she asks quietly, "how long have you known these bears?"

He thinks about lying, but only for a second. "A while," he admits. "Maybe a year?"

He feels her nod. "I thought you must have," she says. "You knew too much about them to have just met them this morning. Liam knew about my necklace. And you didn't seem at all surprised to see Tova."

Trinket shrugs. "I'm technically a member of the High Bear Nation."

"Ah. Which is?"

"I'm not entirely sure," he admits. "Best I know, it's a society of bears that helps other bears."

"Hmm." She's silent again for a moment. "A year ago. That would've been the Hazel Festival in Westruun, wouldn't it?"

He sighs. "Yes. I met them in the Bramblewood and we decided to steal all of the honey from the Festival."

Vex actually laughs. "Oh really? All of the honey?" He nods and huffs. "So  _that's_ what you were doing at the Sun Kissed Inn. But why were you covered in burns?"

Trinket tells her everything. About the cows, the explosive honey, the other bears that were there to steal the honey. Which leads into a confession about their more recent adventures fighting the Bear Hakuda (though he  _does_ leave out the part where he went a little crazy and almost ran off to be a criminal mastermind). She has to pause him towards the end so she can re-cast her spell, but otherwise she's silent as he talks.

She sighs quietly when he's finally done. "Why did you never tell me any of this, buddy?"

"I think I was scared of what you would think," he says. "I didn't want you to be mad or disappointed."

"Oh, Trinket." She reaches up to scratch behind his ears. "You know I love you, right darling? So much."

He nods. "I know."

"And you know that there's nothing you could ever do or say that could make me  _stop_ loving you, right?"

"I know," he says after thinking for a moment. "I guess even bears can get insecure sometimes."

She kisses him on the cheek. "It happens to the best of us, dear."

"Vex?"

She hums. "Yes, buddy?"

"Promise you'll be careful tomorrow?" he asks. "I don't want you or the baby to get hurt."

"I don't want that either," she says, snuggling closer. "I promise that I'll be careful. But you have to promise that you'll do the same."

"I promise."

"Okay. I love you, Trinket."

"I love you, too, Vex." 


End file.
